Absu team meets President

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Kokrajhar, Oct. 9: A three-member team of All Bodo Students’ Union (Absu) today met President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted a memorandum on checking influx.

Team Absu was led by its president Promode Boro, general secretary Jiron Basumatary and assistant general secretary Babul Basumatary. The team has sought the President’s intervention and urged him to take an initiative to stop influx and deport all illegal immigrants under the Foreigners Tribunal Act. It also demanded the updating of the NRC in a time-bound manner, taking 1971 as the base year.

The students’ union urged to take initiatives to resolve the pending Bodo issues and the insurgency problem of the Northeast, with a special mention of NDFB and NDFB (P), for restoring permanent peace in the region.

“A long-term initiative at the national level under your guidance should be initiated which should be substantiated by a special financial package to overcome this crisis of conflict in the trouble-torn area forever,” stated the memorandum.

The union also urged to take scientific measures to manage the floods and erosion in Assam and the Northeast, initiate discussion with the Bhutan government to check the water level of their dams which was creating flood-like situation in the lower Assam districts like Baksa, Barpeta and Kokrajhar and implement the Forest Dwellers’ Act, 2006 properly.

The Absu team termed the meeting with the President fruitful. “The response has been very positive. He gave a patient hearing to our problems and assured to look into the issues,” Boro told The Telegraph .